Remove ads

EPIC: A Quest of Modern Mythology

Reader mode
[X] "Why did you need to know about my family? What do they have to do with anything?"
 
[X] "Why did you need to know about my family? What do they have to do with anything?"

"Are any of them turning out to be dragons in disguise too?"
 
So, just out of curiosity, since we're a Japanese godspawn, should we expect our legend to take after Japanese mythology? Or do legends not care about our parent's origin?
 
Remove ads
End of the Line
  • Threadmarks
    • Omegahugger said:
    [X] "Why did you need to know about my family? What do they have to do with anything?"

    "Are any of them turning out to be dragons in disguise too?"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Thank you, that was just the tie-breaker I was looking for.

    Voting is now closed.

    [X] "Why did you need to know about my family? What do they have to do with anything?"



    You decide to put your frustrations aside for the moment and move forward.

    "Why did you need to know about my family? What do they have to do with anything?"

    "Family is a complicated issue for people like us. As far as the Divine world goes, blood is very important. One of the really big sacred laws is that you aren't allowed to kill your relatives, even in self-defense. If you do, you'll get the Kindly Ones coming down on your head," Lucy explains, then shudders. "From what I've heard about them, you're better off trying your luck with Nemesis. Fate doesn't have that handicap though: it likes messing with people through their family."

    "When you say 'likes', do you mean that it gets some kind of pleasure out of going for our families, or did you mean that this is just a common pattern of behavior?" you ask, scowling. Messing with you was one thing. If anything happened to your parents or sisters... Well, you weren't sure if gods could die, but you were willing to get very creative trying to find out.

    "Fate's not a person. Well, she is, but only in the sense that just about everything is personified somehow when gods get involved," corrects Lucy, pulling the scooter around another tight turn. "Destiny's kind of like the laws of physics: you can sort of predict what's probably going to happen by observing patterns of behavior. Don't ask me why, but there are certain ideas that just get repeated over and over. Heroes with family problems happens to be one of them."

    "What do you mean, problems?" Your voice takes on a very dangerous tone.

    "I mean that a lot of Heroes get started on epic quests to help their family in some way." It would seem that she's noticed your foul mood, because this answer is delivered much faster than her usual rambling exposition. "Their father's kingdom is in danger, a suitor of their beautiful mother wants them out of the way, that kind of thing. If you want to know how Fate is likely to force you into something, your family is always a good place to start."

    "I want them kept out of this," you state instantly.

    "Hate to break this to you, but what you want really doesn't enter into it."

    "I am not in the mood," you snap. "You're the teacher, so teach. How do Heroes protect their families?"

    "They don't," she answers angrily, then her expression softens. "Look, I get that you're scared. Mom knows, if I had any mortal family I would be terrified for them. But biting my head off isn't going to help."

    "Then tell me what will, and I'll do that instead," you say stubbornly, causing her to sigh.

    "...fine, but don't get pissed if this blows up in your face. Trying to out plan Fate is like taking a shortcut through a minefield. Nine times out of ten, you just make everything worse." Lucy shakes her head in resignation. "If you really want to keep your family out of things, you need to play along with the whole 'Hero' idea. Family is just a starting point, a hook to get your Legend moving. As long as you're already doing something suitably Heroic, Fate probably won't bother trying to push you into an adventure by messing with them."

    "Catch-22," you mutter darkly. In order to keep your Destiny from destroying you, you needed to not be a Hero. But if you tried to lay low, something might happen to your family to force you to act. You were screwed both ways. "That's just fantastic."

    "Remember I said probably," she reminds you, causing your frown to deepen. "There are no guarantees when it comes to this kind of thing. I realize that's not what you want to hear, but it is what it is."

    You both sit in sullen silence as you fume impotently and she seems content to let you. A childish part of you has a horrible urge to build some kind of device to kick those ugly thread-weaving hags right in their non-existent balls, preferably multiple times and at reletivistic speed. You're almost positive that would be suicide though. Finally, Lucy speaks up again and breaks the silence.

    "There was another reason I wanted to know about your family," states the raven-haired woman, staring at the road with more intensity than she'd ever shown even when pulling dangerous stunts on this pathetic excuse for a bike. "They can actually be very helpful for you, if you'll let them."

    "I'm not getting them mixed up in this," you instantly say in a tone that will allow no argument.

    "That's not how they're going to be able to help you," she says with a shake of her head. "It's like I told you: Legend is only part of your problem. Hubris is the other one. Heroes don't connect very well with the mortal world, because we're objectively better than them at pretty much everything. It manifests in different ways, but your mortality will definitely start to erode if you let it. The more you use your Divine Power, the less connected you'll become."

    "...and so my family is supposed to be some kind of anchor then?"

    "You catch on quick."

    She actually smiles, and it strikes you that this is the first genuine smile you've actually seen her have. Your thoughts are cut off as she banks violently around another curve, and you reflect that for all her 'wisdom' Lucy herself seems to have a certain disdain for the trivialities of normal life. She had been more concerned about getting saddled with you than she had been about the emotions of the couple whose wedding had been crashed by rapists, and you were pretty sure from the way she drove that she considered things like traffic laws to be merely polite suggestions.

    "The people closest to you are the ones you'll be connected to longest, so they're the ones who will have the best chance of keeping you grounded," Lucy explains, ignorant of your musings. "I recommend you keep in touch with them whenever you can. The more time you spend doing normal things with normal people, the more likely you are to remember that those annoying mortals have lives and feelings when you start breaking out the lightning bolts."

    "Seriously?"

    "It's a slippery slope, and even trying to help people can cause you problems. I mean, I like dogs, I like dogs more than I like people most days, but I don't think they should actually have a say in how the world is run," she explains. "Compared to us, humans are fragile, stupid animals that are just obsessed with so much nonsense. It would be so, so easy just to start fixing things: end famines, cure diseases, stop wars...or start them, I guess."

    "...but that's what gods do," you finish for her.

    "Exactly. You start by trying to help, and pretty soon you have a cult of people who worship the ground you walk on, even if its not literally. You stop caring what they want, because what they want is to do petty, stupid things without worrying about consequences. Eventually, you even stop caring if they die, because you have to look at the big picture and there's seven billion where that one came from anyway."

    "I fail to see how spending an afternoon with my annoying little sisters is supposed to stop me from randomly deciding to take over the world," you respond skeptically. If anything, those two were solid evidence as to why someone should try blowing the whole mudball to smithereens.

    "You'd be surprised. Every little bit helps," she says seriously. "Speaking from experience, the temptation to just lock yourself in a basement for a month and come out with a universal language or something else world-changing is going to be there. It'll probably worse for you than for most, because you're going to want to build things. Who needs your old friends when you have new friends who can read minds and who don't sound like a lobotomized monkey every time they open their mouths? But I've seen what happens to people who do that. If you try to be a Hero all the time, it will consume you."

    She brings the scooter to a jolting stop, and you realize you've reached a dingy-looking apartment complex on the outskirts of the city. Pulling into a small parking spot on the side of the road, she throws down the kickstand and hops off, carelessly throwing the keys into her pocket.

    "This is my stop. Your dragon friend probably won't have the juice to get you all the way home, but you should still be able to call a cab from here." She watches intently as you climb off and survey the area. "I know. Shitty, right? Sitcoms don't mention just how damn expensive New York City really is. It works out though. Smashing cockroaches is my way of keeping off any 'A-god-am-I' urges."

    "I'll take your word for it," you reply without enthusiasm.

    "Any last questions you have for me before we part ways? I'll give you my cellphone number either way, but unless something huge and scaly is trying to eat you, don't try calling tomorrow. I had to pick up an extra shift so I could get time off for this wedding." She frowns at your bemused expression. "Not a word. I'm trying to be low profile, and that means working for a living like everyone else."


    Do you have any final questions for Lucy?

    [ ] Yes.
    -[ ] Write in.

    [ ] No. Return to your apartment in...
    -[ ] The Bronx
    -[ ] Brooklyn
    -[ ] Manhattan
    -[ ] Queens
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Yes.
    -[x] Why are they doing this? Nothing about this gig sounds appealing and it's torture for little reason. Why?
    -[x] Can you get a god to owe you a favor?

    Fuck this setting holy shit it's bleak, but I love puzzles.
     
    Vindictus said:
    So, just out of curiosity, since we're a Japanese godspawn, should we expect our legend to take after Japanese mythology? Or do legends not care about our parent's origin?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Fate tends to take the path of least resistance. Your Legend will be built off the challenges and creatures you encounter. Unless you actively seek out a specific challenge, you will likely bump into things culled from the culture of those around you. For example, Queens has several large Greek, Irish, Indian, and Taiwanese neighborhoods, so if you live there you'll be dealing with their mythologies. If you live in Manhattan, you get Chinatown, Koreatown, and Spanish Harlem, so you can expect to face Chinese, Korean, and South American threats.

    Pandemonious Ivy said:
    Fuck this setting holy shit it's bleak, but I love puzzles.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I can't argue with that, though I should mention that Lucy isn't the most reliable source: she's cynical as hell. There are more than a few Heroes who freaking love what they do, consequences be damned.

    I based the general tone for the game off works like Worm and Jessica Jones: power doesn't make your life better, just changes the way it sucks.

    The setting itself was actually something I built up around the mechanics, which unfortunately were designed to be nasty. Still, I decided to run with it anyway because I liked the fact that it was relatively simple but also counter-intuitive. Normally in games you want your stats as high as possible for as long as possible. With Don't Rest Your Head, you want to be as weak as possible for as long as possible, because the moment you get too powerful you die horribly.

    An amusing fact: as crappy as this setting is, the original setting that came with these rules was even worse.

    The Laurent said:
    [k] No. Go to...
    -[k] Bel Air.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    ...and now I want to write an Epic Poetry omake with the Fresh Prince as Gilgamesh and Alexandra as Enkidu.
     
    [X] Yes.
    -[x] Why are they doing this? Nothing about this gig sounds appealing and it's torture for little reason. Why?
    -[x] Can you get a god to owe you a favor?
    [X] Return to your apartment in...
    -[X] Queens
     
    [JK] Return to your apartment in...
    -[Jk] Valhalla. You were secretly dead the whole time!

    No strong opinions on serious stuff yet.
     
    I think it'll be hilarious if our motivation for reconnecting to our mom-mom (to distinguish from our Momdad) is because like hell we'll let one of our sisters be locked in a tall tower and become a quest objective :V
     
    So, what happens if we leave the planet? Are there any space gods or Fate just goes full Scorpion on us?

    Also, what we should do with our power, as far as battle is concerned? Our dragon doesn't exactly mesh well with stuff we can create, which kinda sucks, but something like drone gunship, a power suit or invisible kill-sat can deal with lower level threats so we don't have to use up our Divine power to deal with them. Which is kinda neat i guess.
     
    Wolfy said:
    Also, what we should do with our power, as far as battle is concerned? Our dragon doesn't exactly mesh well with stuff we can create, which kinda sucks, but something like drone gunship, a power suit or invisible kill-sat can deal with lower level threats so we don't have to use up our Divine power to deal with them. Which is kinda neat i guess.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    We make a super-crossbow, have our serpent-senpai shapeshift into an arrow and snipe people from very far away with a dragon.
     
    [X] No. Return to your apartment in...
    -[X] Brooklyn

    Well. Time to build our first Death Ray.
     
    [><] No. Return to your apartment in...
    -[><] Oslo
    Pfft, nowhere does it say our apartment has to be in New York. Giddy up, dragonbro!
     
    Wolfy said:
    So, what happens if we leave the planet? Are there any space gods or Fate just goes full Scorpion on us?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Of course there are space gods. There's about a zillion gods of the moon/sun, most of the Roman gods are directly associated with a planet, a lot of the constellations used to be people or monsters, and there are more than a few deities that directly personify the night sky itself. It's surprisingly crowded up there.

    As for what happens if you leave the planet...try it and find out. :D

    Wolfy said:
    Also, what we should do with our power, as far as battle is concerned? Our dragon doesn't exactly mesh well with stuff we can create, which kinda sucks, but something like drone gunship, a power suit or invisible kill-sat can deal with lower level threats so we don't have to use up our Divine power to deal with them. Which is kinda neat i guess.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I think the idea with your Mizuchi was that if you ever got caught with your pants down (like you did at the wedding) he would be able to hold the enemy off and keep them distracted long enough for you to get your Engineer on. That and his shapeshifting ability allowed for subtle solutions that would be difficult to replicate with technology.

    Also because dragons are cool.
     
    Why are we asking no more questions? :/ like, this is depressing af and we're just gonna leave it be?
     
    Wolfy said:
    We could try to cross into another dimension.

    That should make us lose our Fate, i imagine.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Sorry, but for the purposes of this particular game, multiverse theory is wrong. There is only one reality: yours. You may utilize the 4th, 5th, 6th, or any of the higher dimensions to travel, store things, and otherwise pull fun/wacky stunts, but you can't leave your universe and go to a different one.
     
    Objective #24: Use Engineering Talent to create a system that is its own self-contained universe. Use it to escape Fate and/or play god.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top